Clayton townhomes burn to the ground because firefighters don’t have enough water pressure

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga — At least six units of a townhome complex in Clayton County burned to the ground early Wednesday morning after firefighters were faced with no available water due to frozen pipes.

The fire started early Wednesday morning at the Lakeside Townhomes off Riverdale Road just south of the airport. The area has not had water since Christmas morning.

Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach has been on the scene all morning, speaking to neighbors and fire officials, who said the water shortage caused by burst pipes hampered their efforts to put the flames out.

Neighbors said the fire burned for a good 30-40 minutes before firefighters could get just one line of hose on the fire.

Firefighters were able to rescue two adults and a toddler who were trapped on the second floor of their home, but six of the complex’s eight units were destroyed.

Aseelah Muhammad and her husband Abdullah could only stand by and watch their home burn to the ground.

“There was nothing they could do, just let the building burn,” Muhammad said.

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Fire officials told Gehlbach that the Clayton County Fire Department had to put out the fire using only one stream of water because hydrants in the complex weren’t working. They eventually ran enough hose and used engines to relay water from working fire hydrants further away.

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Neighbor Jabari Lycurgus took video of flames shooting from the building as firefighters arrived.

“They didn’t have water. No pressure at all. The water came out, but had no pressure,” Lycurgus said.

Muhammad is thankful a neighbor banged on their door to wake them up and that everyone got out of the home, including a mother, her friend and two-year-old who firefighters rescued with a ladder.

“You got memories. Everything in there,” Muhammad said. “But the best thing is we both got out of there. Now, we have to start all over again.”

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Fire investigators will be looking into the cause of the fire.

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